Serena Williams Gets Back in the Game

Tennis ace Serena Williams returns to the winner's circle after battling injuries, grief, and a dramatic slip in her pro ranking.

By Lauren Paige Kennedy

From the WebMD Archives

What does Serena Williams -- tennis powerhouse, aspiring fashionista,
occasional actor, and all-around formidable human being -- do when she gets the
flu? Does she fight her way through high fevers and boxes of tissues to come
out swinging, shaking off chills and congestion faster than the rest of us
nonathletic types?

"I just lie in bed. At some point I move to the couch. I watch lots and lots
and lots of TV. Then around 6 [p.m.], I go back to bed. And I do it for days,"
says Williams, who dropped out of several smaller tennis tournaments in
February while suffering from the effects of a particularly nasty bug.

And this comeback kid -- who despite her unseeded status defeated the 6-foot
blonde Russian transplant, No. 2 ranked Maria Sharapova, in January's
Australian Open -- cites television as her elixir of choice, whether she's sick
or simply chilling out after a tough match. "I'm a cable freak," she says.
"The Avatar is my favorite show. It's animation, which I love. And I'm
addicted to America's Next Top Model."

And you thought elite athletes spent all their time bench-pressing and
panting through grueling practices.

But Williams, 25, is no ordinary athlete. Fans and foes alike know her as
something of a warrior goddess, all chiseled muscle and broad-shouldered menace
on court, dressed in flirty Day-Glo pink or skin-tight black leather. This is a
woman who clearly refuses to color inside the lines, even if her laserlike
shots usually fall within them.

Serena's Setbacks

From the start of her career, Williams has defied the odds. She rose from
L.A.'s rough Compton neighborhood as a child player to become, in 1999, only
the second black woman to win a Grand Slam. Althea Gibson's historic 1956
victory served as inspiration. Williams took home gold at the 2000 Sydney
Olympics for women's doubles (sharing the honor with her sister, tennis champ
Venus) and earned four straight Open titles (nicknamed the "Serena Slam") by
early 2004.

But Williams watched her No. 1 ranking drop dramatically after a nagging
knee injury (a tear to the quadriceps tendon) continued to plague her, despite
an earlier surgery to repair it. She also suffered from a stress fracture to
her right ankle, which added more pressure to her knee, in 2005; in 2006, her
ranking fell from the top 100 for the first time in more than a decade.

Continued

While Williams struggled with both personal and professional setbacks during
these years, she never planned to bow out quietly. "I hated it," she tells
WebMD, referring to the tough times, when some tennis fans wondered if her
glory days were behind her. "But I had injuries, and I had to let myself
recover."

Rick Macci, who trained both Williams sisters in 1991-1995 at his
Florida-based tennis academy (as well as some of the sport's other biggest
names, Sharapova included), adds this: "Knee injuries affect movement -- they
are really tough for a player to overcome. Plus, whenever you have an injury
that takes you off the court, it's mentally hard to come back. When Serena
wants to be, she is one of the toughest players ever to play the game. But her
mental state affects how she plays."

Macci believes that great players must have equal parts mental resolve and
God-given talent. "Everybody thought Serena was ready to disappear. But she
played Sharapova in Australia like she had nothing to lose. When Serena doesn't
let the pressure get to her, she is the best player in the world."

Coping With Grief

Her physical challenges may have been only part of the catalyst for
Williams' respite from the pro circuit in 2004-2005 and her struggle to get
back in the game. In September 2003, her older sister Yetunde Price was shot
and killed in Compton as she sat inside a friend's car. Her family was
devastated. The murder made headlines around the world, and for the first time,
the flamboyant tennis star may have felt the intrusive nature of her fame.

Williams, who claims to wear her celebrity status with ease and says that to
"inspire young girls is my dream," admits that the prying press and sensational
nature of the crime made her bereavement "a little more difficult, trying to
deal with it all."

When asked if she needed a mental break as much as a physical one after
Price's death, she answers quietly, "I think so ... yes."

This comes as no surprise to Kevin O'Brien, MA, EdD, a trauma therapist and
the director of education and victims services at the National Center for
Victims of Crime in Washington, D.C. "Violent crime touches every aspect of an
individual -- the spiritual, the emotional, and the social," O'Brien says.
"Socially, there is a need to withdraw. Emotionally, there is the need for
support. And spiritually, there are tough questions like, 'How could something
so bad happen to someone so good?' The fact that Serena is also a public
figure, with the details of the murder given to the public, would have made
coping with her loss that much harder."

Continued

Finding Balance

But a comeback was never far from her mind. "Tennis is a game I was born to
play," Williams says now, despite court whisperings that her other interests --
from fashion design (she has her own clothing line, Aneres, which is "Serena"
spelled backward), to the lights of Hollywood (she's dabbled in acting over the
years, appearing on ER, The Bernie Mac Show, and Law &amp;
Order: SVU) -- were distracting the top player from performing at her
peak.

"I wish I could be like Martina Navratilova," says Williams, referring to
her 50-year-old colleague as someone whose passion for the sport never wanes,
despite a nearly nonstop playing schedule. "But I'm not like that. I need other
things in my life. I need balance."

When asked if these other "things" -- from business meetings with apparel
executives to red-carpet movie premieres -- help prevent feelings of burnout,
she replies, "Yes. For me, they do. Absolutely."

For naysayers who questioned her commitment to tennis before her spectacular
return in Australia a few months ago, for those who wrote that she wasn't
training enough, wasn't conditioned enough, and had lost her desire to win,
Williams offers this: "I never stopped training. I trained all year - you have
to. It was never an option to settle [for a lower ranking]."

Back on Top

So, WebMD asks, which is more difficult emotionally: maintaining a No. 1
position with your competitors gunning to take you down, or climbing back as
the underdog? "I don't know which one is harder," Williams says. "There are ups
and downs. When you're down -- feeling truly low -- fighting your way back can
be fun. But when you're No. 1, it's the best. Nothing's better. ...

"But I never feel pressure," she continues, challenging Macci's earlier
assessment. "I just stay focused on my own game. That's what works for me."

Does she believe her presence -- all 5 feet, 10 inches of cut biceps,
iron-strong legs, fierce gaze, and determined focus -- intimidates her
adversaries? "I really don't know," she says. "I try not to think about anyone
else out there. I think about me."

Continued

When Williams took on Sharapova in Melbourne, she was thinking about someone
else -- but it wasn't her opponent on the other side of the net. After winning
the match with a forceful backhand -- and securing her eighth Grand Slam title
-- Williams told the crowd in an emotional voice, "Most of all, I would like to
dedicate this win to my sister, who's not here. Her name is Yetunde. I just
love her so much. I'll try not to get teary-eyed, but I said a couple of days
ago, if I win this, it's going to be for her. So thanks, Tunde."

Sharapova later remarked: "You can never underestimate [Williams] as a
performer. ... I know what she's capable of, and she showed that today. She has
shown it many, many times."

Built to Win

Compared with some of her will-o'-the-wisp rivals, including her 125-pound
archnemesis, Belgian player Justine Henin, Williams is physically, well,
impressive. But does she get tired of having her fitness level questioned
simply because she has curves, strength, and mass? Does she suffer from weight
issues and insecurities like so many other American women? Or does Williams
view her body as a machine, something to be nourished and trained for maximum
performance?

"Both," she answers. "I think everyone wants to look fitter. You always want
what you don't have." (This is the same woman who was once quoted as saying
that no matter what her weight, she'd have a large bosom and backside --
although admittedly, she described her backside with a less printable
word.)

"It's frustrating," she says. "A lot of people don't understand that I am
both [shapely and fit]. But as long as I'm winning, that's OK! That's all that
matters."

"Serena is large, with muscular buttocks, hips, and thighs," echoes San
Diego-based Cedric Bryant, PhD, chief science officer of the American Council
on Exercise. "In regard to tennis, she is perfectly built to excel. Her power
allows her great court coverage, enables her to be explosive. She has the
classic mesomorphic body type, which is a muscular, athletic body that is best
suited for power, speed, and agility."

As for weight, Bryant says that BMI -- body mass index -- is not necessarily
a good indicator of fitness levels among elite athletes. "BMI measures body
weight in relation to height. In Serena's case, it gives the wrong conclusion,
because it doesn't take into account the composition of that weight -- lean
versus fat tissue. Extra weight in the form of lean muscle mass, which is what
Serena likely possesses, is a positive for a top athlete."

Continued

Sister Act

And how does her sister Venus -- who, while less curvy, is, at 6 feet, no
less physically imposing -- view Serena's triumphant return to the upper
echelons of the sport? "I take it as inspiration," the former No. 1 was quoted
as saying about Serena's Australian Open win. The elder Williams, also
struggling with a painful sports injury of late, has competed only twice since
last July because of a sprained left wrist; her World Tennis Association
ranking as of press time was 29.

But what about sibling rivalry? How can two sisters compete on such a grand
scale without hurt feelings, disappointment, or resentment?

"We talk about it sometimes," Williams admits. "Honestly, I really, really
want to win -- of course I do. But if I can't win, then I want Venus to
win."

"They aren't quite as competitive with each other," opines Macci, who
recalls the first match the two sisters played as rivals, when they were
teenagers. "It's probably not conscious. But if you follow tennis, you notice
that [when they play each other], they don't have that intense desire to
destroy the other person, the competitive rage you need to win -- the same fire
Serena had when she recently blew Sharapova off the court." Williams sums it up
differently: "We truly want the best for each other."

So what's next for Serena Williams, besides the French Open later this month
(May 27-June 10) and the U.S. Open in September, when the eyes of the tennis
world will be on her to see if she takes her ninth --and perhaps 10th -- Slam,
and maintains her comeback status? "I stay in the present, I think about
today," she says simply.

And a decade from now? Does Williams see herself still competing?
Commentating from an announcer's box like her colleague, former champion Tracy
Austin? Running a fashion empire? Starring in Hollywood films?

"I just met with my people the other day about the clothing line, so that's
in the works. And being in a movie -- well, well, that would be a dream come
true. But in 10 years, I want to be a mom. Definitely. I think I want to have
at least three."

As for her philosophy for success -- on court and in life -- Williams serves
up a kind of bravado we haven't seen from this tennis ace in years: "Someone's
gotta win, so it might as well be me."